Lynx Northern Shifters 3

information on her. “No brothers or sisters?”
Trey said heavily, “I have a younger brother.”
“Is he a werewolf too?”
“Yes. But we’re not close.” It was hard to talk about Gabriel, and Jonah must have noticed because he wore a slight frown.
“My brother wasn’t a lynx.”
“I’m sorry that he’s gone.”
Jonah accepted that with a sharp nod. But he didn’t let go of his interest in Gabriel. “Do you see your brother?”
“No.” Trey shook his head, saw that Jonah was expecting more, and Trey weighed his options. If he shut down, Jonah would shut down, that seemed pretty evident. “My brother is…unstable, and hates me.”
“Unstable.”
There was no sense dancing around it, although a stone settled in Trey’s chest, as it always did when he thought about Gabriel. “He’s a killer.”
“You’re not?”
“I’m not unstable.” This wasn’t quite the way Trey had wanted the conversation to go. Except the comment didn’t alarm Jonah. In fact his gaze intensified.
“Not all killers are unstable.” It was a statement. Kind of. He also wanted validation.
“That is my belief.” Trey tucked away Jonah’s comment for later and tried to steer the conversation elsewhere. “I was on vacation…”
He waited, in case Jonah had something else to say or ask, but Jonah just nodded encouragement.
“I like to be alone on vacation, to be wolf.” If it had been anyone else besides this young man who managed to be wary and yet eager, Trey would have felt stupid for sounding so awkward. But he supposed Jonah might not have had many people in his life to compare him to. So his conversational skills didn’t have to be strong, as long as he communicated something . “But I need some kind of purpose when I’m on vacation, or I’m too much at loose ends.”
Here, Jonah nodded again, almost fiercely.
“So I’d heard of a giant-lynx sighting and I thought I’d check it out.”
Fear entered Jonah’s expression. “Will there be others looking for me?”
“I doubt it. Though I’d be careful not to run into any more humans, at least when you’re lynx. I assumed I was off on a wild-goose chase.”
“What if I’d just been a giant lynx?”
“I would have found that interesting.” Trey offered a half-smile. “But you’re more interesting.”
Jonah flushed, which wasn’t what Trey had been aiming for. He had to try not to embarrass his host.
Pulling a breath in, Jonah stood. “The deer may starve.”
Huh? “What?”
“After this kind of blizzard, with this much snow, the deer may starve.”
Undoubtedly true, but this wasn’t something Trey had given any thought to.
“So I’m going to cut down a few trees for them and they can eat. What’s left can become firewood.”
“All right.” It had been enough talking as far as Trey was concerned too. At least for now. “How many will you feed?”
“Some,” Jonah said shortly. He marched back to pull on warm gear from head to toe, then reappeared to say, rather defiantly, “I’m not stupid. I know it won’t save them all. But it’s okay to save a few.”
“Sure.” Frankly, Trey had never considered deer and their survival, except when he had to eat.
“I hate seeing them starve. It’s better to kill them than that.” He paused. “I don’t have winter gear for you to wear. Craig’s stuff is still here, but it’s too small.”
“I can shift.”
Jonah straightened. “You leaving then?”
Trey kept the smile off his face. That wasn’t anticipation, but dismay in Jonah’s expression. Yes, the lynx was restless and uncomfortable sharing his space with Trey. But he didn’t entirely want Trey to leave either. Good . “No, I’ll follow you in a bit.”
Looking down, Jonah placed hands on his hips. “I don’t usually hunt this herd.”
“Okay,” Trey said reasonably, “I won’t hunt them either then.”
“I’ve got enough food to feed us both. You don’t have to take down a deer.”
“Unless it’s starving.”
“Yeah, exactly.” Jonah raised his gaze and stared at Trey. “I still don’t know why you’re here.”
“When I figure it out, I’ll let you know.”
“Did you ever meet someone called Aaron Smythe?”
“Nope.”
Jonah searched Trey’s face, as if looking for truth. His eyes were wide and green, flecks of brown. Trey knew he shouldn’t see this face as epitomizing innocence, knew that kind of thinking left him vulnerable even if it wasn’t accurate. But it was hard to resist idealizing this young,